Georgia receiver Chris Conley is your 2015 combine workout warrior

INDIANAPOLIS – Chris Conley had a nice career at Georgia. Not anything that would make you think he'd be one of the buzzy names in the NFL draft, but nice.

He had 36 catches for 657 yards as a senior. One 100-yard game, with 128 against Arkansas. He was SEC scholar-athlete of the year, but that was the extent of his senior year awards. He wasn't even honorable mention all-SEC.

But every year we have a player or two who blow away the combine, and this year it's Conley. He won the week.

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Conley basically did the Vernon Davis at the combine, wrecking the field in just about every test. He ran a 4.35-second 40-yard dash, only .02 off of what Miami speedster Phillip Dorsett ran. His 45-inch vertical was three inches better than any receiver, and probably about as good as most NBA dunk contest winners (this year's winner, Zach LaVine, has a reported 46-inch vertical). Conley's 11-7 broad jump beat the rest of the receivers by seven inches.

He set combine records for the vertical jump and the broad jump. And that, friends, is how you go from a good, solid SEC receiver to someone every NFL team will be reviewing his film on in coming weeks.

Conley's big pre-draft push started at the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl, when he felt comfortable against the competition.

"I learned that I can compete with pretty much anyone," Conley said, according to Rivals. "You have people come around from across the country, guys who were the best in their respective schools, at their respective conferences, and it's a time to see what peer competition is like. At that point I was able to have some confidence, build some confidence and show some people who aren't from the Southeast what I'm all about."

Before this week, Conley might have been best known for releasing a great Star Wars fan film.

So he's creative and an absolute freak of nature athletically too. Of course, teams are wary of over-drafting someone after putting too much into workout numbers instead of the game film. Call it the Mike Mamula effect. But Conley will be remembered for winning the 2015 combine. His will be the combine that future workout warriors will be compared to.

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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdowncorner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab

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